PEa/PEb - Potential energy at a and b, respectively

COURSE OUTLINE: ELECTRIC POTENTIAL AND Wba - Work done by electric field to move charge from a to b
CAPACITANCE q - Test charge/ Charge in Focus
1. Electric Potential
2. Electric Potential Energy ELECTRIC POTENTIAL ENERGY
3. Relationship between Electric Field and DEFINITION
Potential ● Energy needed to move a charge against an
4. Equipotential Lines electric field
5. Electric Potential Due to Single Point Charges ○ Stronger electric field, the more energy is
6. Capacitance needed for charge to move about the
7. Capacitor electric field
8. Capacitors in Series and Parallel ○ To move a charge further in the electric
9. Energy Stored and Electric Field Energy in field, more energy is needed
Capacitors
10. Dielectrics Electrical Potential Energy Analogous with
Gravitational Potential Energy
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL DEFINITION
DEFINITION
● Electric potential energy per unit charge

FORMULA

● Just as the more massive rock has more potential

V - Electric Potential or Voltage
energy, so does the larger charge
U/PE - Electric Potential Energy
q - Test Charge/Charge in Focus
Unit: 1 J/C or 1 Volt (V) RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ELECTRIC
FIELD AND POTENTIAL
Potential Difference DEFINITION
DEFINITION ● Electric potential is scalar
● Also known as voltage ● Electric field is vector
● Amount of work needed to move a charge from one ● The flow of the electric field (pointing to the test
point to another in an electric field without charges) is caused by a difference in potential
acceleration ● We related work done by the electric field to move a
positive charge from a to b to change in potential
Work as related to electric field energy
FORMULAS

● We related work done as force times distance and

W - Work force is charge times electric field
F - Force
d - Displacement
Unit: 1 J
● Where d is the distance between a and b. Relating
the two equations, we have:

W - Work ● Solving for E, we find

q - Charge
E - Electric Field
d - Displacement
Unit: 1 J
● This gives us a relationship of units for electric field:
Electric Potential as Potential Difference
FORMULA

● Voltage related to uniform electric field is:

Vba - Potential difference bet 2 points from a to b

Va/Vb - Potential at a and b, respectively
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 ● Common capacitors have capacitance in the range
of 1pF to 103μF (mF)
● Depends on size, shape, and relative position of the
two conductors
● Also dependent on the material in the space
Where minus sign indicates electric field pointing in the
between them
direction of decreasing potential V
FORMULA
EQUIPOTENTIAL LINES/SURFACE
DEFINITION
● Diagrammatic representation of electric potential
(lines for 2-D, surfaces for 3-D)
● All points in the line or surface is of the same C - Capacitance
electric potential ϵo - Permittivity of free space = 8.85x10-12C2/N*m2
● Equipotential surfaces must be perpendicular to the A - Area of plates for a parallel-plate capacitor
electric field at any point d - Distance of air (Gap)

CAPACITOR
DEFINITION

● Green lines refer to the equipotential lines/surfaces

● Left: Two charged parallel plates
● Right: Electric dipole
● Device that can store electric charge
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL DUE TO SINGLE ● Consists of two conducting objects placed near
each other but not touching
POINT CHARGE
FORMULAS CAPACITORS IN SERIES AND PARALLEL
Premise for Solving Capacitance for
Capacitors in Series and Parallel
DEFINITION
V - Electric potential or voltage ● The value of capacitance of capacitor networks
k - 9.0x109 N*m2/C2 (capacitors in series and parallel) can be calculated
Q - Single point charge in focus by treating it as single capacitors
r - Distance from the point source
How to calculate equivalent capacitance of
capacitors in networks

Relationship Inferred
V and Q - Direct
V and r - Inverse
(V is 0 at r = ∞; as the distance from the source increases,
potential cannot be measured/felt)

NOTES
● Simple summations can be easily performed for any
number of point charges
○ Solve Potentials due to a point charge, one ENERGY STORED AND ELECTRIC FIELD
distance at a time
○ Since these are scalar quantities, you can ENERGY IN CAPACITORS
simply perform addition DEFINITION
● Charged capacitor stores electric energy by
CAPACITANCE separating positive and negative charges
DEFINITION
● Variable that relates amount of charge (q) in a
capacitor and associated potential difference (V)
● Unit: 1 Coulomb/Volt or 1 farad (F)

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 Potential Energy of a Charged Capacitor
FORMULA

U - Potential Energy
q - Charge between plates
C - Capacitance
V - Potential Difference/Voltage

DIELECTRICS
DEFINITION
● Insulating material between the conducting plates of
capacitors to improve electric properties
● K = dielectric constant (Dependent on the material)
● Polarization may be induced by the presence of a
dielectric material

Dielectric Constants for Some Materials

Capacitance of a Parallel-Plate Capacitor with

Dielectric
FORMULA

C - Capacitance
K - Dielectric Constant
A - Area of the Plate
d - Distance between the plates

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